Groundhog Day MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +3 1/2 Content: +1

Grumpy TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) lives out his worst nightmare as he finds himself stuck in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on February 2, Groundhog Day. In fact, every day for Phil will be Groundhog Day. He finds himself waking up every morning at six -clock only to live the same day all over again. The potential for humor is great since Phil is the only one who has any recollection of the previous Groundhog Days that he has lived. At first, Phil uses the predictable events of each repetitive day to successfully rob banks or take advantage of pretty women. He soon realizes, however, that what he really wants is a date with his new producer, Rita (Andie MacDowell). Unhappily, no matter what he does, Rita does not seem to be interested. This sends Phil into a bout of depression. He experiments with several ways of killing himself, only to wake up the next morning in the same dilemma. Finally, Phil puts the time to good use and learns that by helping other people and honing his skills he may yet be happy, and maybe get the girl too. GROUNDHOG DAY is a funny, well-acted adult morality play about how one grumpy weatherman must live the same day over and over until he gets it right.

The refreshing thing about Murray and this film is that they can be so funny without being crude. Offensive language is almost non-existent, with only two occurrences of mild crudities. There is no nudity and only one sexual situation, which is shown somewhat humorously. Murray and a girlfriend are shown kissing passionately, but the rest is left to the imagination. Also, in two bedroom scenes with Rita, Phil purposely refrains from any sexual involvement with her. Several cases of violence could be described as fantasy violence. Since Phil supposedly cannot die, he tests the hypothesis out a few times. He jumps from buildings or in front of trucks, electrocutes himself and runs off a cliff. The dark humor of suicide attempts gives some cause for concern, especially for children. However, the incidents are presented in a comical or fantasy context, and are not condoned. Overall, GROUNDHOG DAY is a feel good, funny movie with only a few questionable elements. With a caution about the fantasy suicide attempts, GROUNDHOG DAY turns out to be a reasonably acceptable, entertaining movie.

Preview Reviewer: Greg Wilson
Distributor: Columbia Pictures